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THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO Wi •Vi A ^ U I ^....^ L-r:^ J| lONALD MCDONALD • RESIDENT THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO BOARD OF TRUSTEES The President's Report February 7, 1992 The spring semester has begun with an enrollment as of February 5th of 3315 in the academic programs. As is always the case the number of stu­dents is less in the spring than in the previous fall, when we ended the semester with 3801 students. The major reason for this decline is tonight's mid-year commencement exercise, at which we will award baccalau­reate degrees to 232 graduating seniors and master's degrees to 44 students who have completed their graduate work. In both semesters the number of students enrolled reflected a modest growth over the same time last year. We are beginning to get a hint of next year's enrollment, and though it is premature to make firm projections, indications are that we will again experience a modest growth. Last June in Cairo I announced to the Board the formation of the Task Force on Excellence in Education, established in part in response to criti­cisms of our academic programs but primarily to study and recommend on how the faculty, students, and administration can work together to improve our programs. After a fitful start the Task Force got underway in the fall and has been gathering data to characterize the quantitative factors that could have an influence on the quality of an AUC education. Some of the issues that are being addressed as regards students are criteria and proce­dures for admission, the indifferent attitude of some students toward cheating, and the perceived lack of discipline among the student body. As for the faculty the Task Force is reviewing university procedures for recruiting, appointing, retaining, and promoting faculty. The hard part of the Task Force's work, how to address the qualitative aspects of education, is yet to come. I hope to have a final report from the Task Force late in the spring semester, though it may be necessary to extend its life into the next academic year. . . . 1